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DIFFERENCES IN STRESSOR SENSITIVITY IN GEOGRAPHICALLY DISTINCT POPULATIONS OF AMPELISCA ABDITA
Citation:
Serbst, J R., A Kuhn, M Tagliabue, AND M. R. Ringenary. DIFFERENCES IN STRESSOR SENSITIVITY IN GEOGRAPHICALLY DISTINCT POPULATIONS OF AMPELISCA ABDITA. Presented at Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Baltimore, MD, November 11, 2001.
Description:
Risk assessment methods for contaminated sediments typically rely upon data derived from laboratory studies in which effects on individuals from a reference environment are the primary measure. The objective of this study was to determine if amphipods endemic to a contaminated site demonstrated similar exposure response relations to amphipods from a reference location. In order to do so, we compared sensitivity between the two populations in a reference toxicity test. This sensitivity comparison provided for an evaluation of acclimation or other compensatory mechanisms occurring in the field. Three field collected sediments, one from a reference site in Long Island Sound (LIS) and two from the contaminated sites New Bedford Harbor (NBH), MA (a highly contaminated Superfund site, high in PCBs, PAH's, metals and fecal coliforms) and Jamaica Bay (JB), NY(moderately contaminated with sewage, hydrocarbons, metals, high % TOC, pesticides) were tested in the laboratory using two populations of the amphipod Ampelisca abdita: one from a reference site (Narrow River, RI) and one from the moderately contaminated Jamaica Bay site. Both populations were tested in each sediment. There were no statistical differences in survival in the reference LIS sediment. No organisms from either population survived in 100% NBH sediment. There was however a significant statistical difference between the two amphipod populations in the 100% JB sediment and also in the low (25%) concentration of NBH sediment, with JB organisms being significantly less sensitive in both. These results were supported by reference toxicity tests with ammonia, in which JB amphipods were less sensitive. Arnphipods from Jamaica Bay appear to have a tolerance for higher levels of contaminants. This study illustrates the importance in considering the source of organisms that are used in testing field sediments in the laboratory, and may have implications for extrapolating from results based on reference organisms to organisms from contaminated sites.